Rocklobster
Master Chef
Who here uses the Five Second Rule? Normally, I don't have a problem, but we have a big hairy dog, so I have to give it a hair check, and if it comes up negative, then it is good to go.
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The Five Second Rule
- Thread starter Rocklobster
- Start date
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Aunt Bea
Master Chef
When I was a kid we used it for everything including soup and ice cream.
Here it's a 10 second rule, with the hair check. Usually it's cat hair, sometimes it's mine.
Ted Allen's show on the Food Network, the science thingy show, don't remember the name, Food Detectives maybe?, did a show on the 5-second rule. The amount of bacteria that grew on the 5-second rule piece of food compared to the undropped food was staggeringly HUGE. Just an FYI. I'll admit though sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, depends on what it is and mostly if can be washed off and then get cooked, especially after watching that segment.
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Yes, we apply the 5-second rule here, but it's just the two of us and no inside animals to add to the flavor. The kitchen floor also gets scrubbed at least once a week, sometimes two, so our margin of safety is a bit better than it might be.
I never thought the rule was about bacteria. I thought it was so you knew it was the bit you just dropped, not something from yesterday.
CraigC
Master Chef
- Joined
- Jan 27, 2011
- Messages
- 6,486
Note: The 5 second rule can be extended. This is usually based upon the number of "pops" you've had before applying the rule. Since you won't remenber and nobody else saw anything, you're good to go!
Craig
Craig
MSC
Head Chef
LOL, we usually observe the 5-second rule and so far still surviving! And there has been a fair amount of scientific testing done on it, here's the wikipedia link FYI.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five-second_rule
One of my favorite commercials from last year.
YouTube - 2010 Nick Saban "Little Debbie" Commercial For College Gameday
YouTube - 2010 Nick Saban "Little Debbie" Commercial For College Gameday
Only if it can be washed off, I have cats. At work...never!
Somebunny
Executive Chef
Depends on how clean I perceive my floor to be. We don't usually wear street shoes in the house and have no indoor pets, but I'm not eating say....a hunk of scrambled egg or a piece of buttered or worse yet peanut buttered toast that lands upside down! Lol! Things that can be washed off....maybe.
Seems to me I saw a bit on TV a while back that said you had about 30 seconds for moist food and almost a minute for dry food. Can't give you a reference for that though, sorry.
We have an incredibly hairy dog and two cats and 4 humans living here. If I get to it before the dog does its a rare day! But yep, 5 second rule applies here.
We have an incredibly hairy dog and two cats and 4 humans living here. If I get to it before the dog does its a rare day! But yep, 5 second rule applies here.
licia
Executive Chef
We don't use the 5 second rule here. If it hits the floor - it hits the garbage.
A friend of mine said he saw a study that gave about the same info as that bit you saw on TV.
At my house, the rule regarding food on the floor and pets: it's fair game while it's on the floor, but it isn't automatically yours. I dropped a whole roast beef and raced the dog for it (and won).
Doggy got some bits that I thought would be better to cut off.
I don't use the 5 or 10 second rule when there are guests. Okay, in the case of a whole roast beef, I would tell the guests what had happened.
If it's something like mayo, if a pet doesn't show up soon enough, I'll holler, "Hay, someone come clean up this mayo for me!"
Current cat doesn't like "people food", so he's useless for cleanup.
One piece of food hitting the floor that I let a dog have, means I need to "drop" two more pieces
They know that nobody is getting it if they make a dash for it. They are good that way. They just give me the look while waiting for me to decide.
They know that nobody is getting it if they make a dash for it. They are good that way. They just give me the look while waiting for me to decide.
Somebunny
Executive Chef
Our Cocker Spaniel used to sit at my feet waiting for food to drop, he wasn't to discerning he would pretty much eat anything. His favorite tho oddly was cabbage, I would lose a lot to him while shredding for coleslaw....no 5 second rule necessary! Except maybe the 5 second warning you might need to clear the room after the cabbage started working in his system! Rolf!!!
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